Tower Heist Review

16th Mar 2012

Intelligent, quick witted and timely comedic, Tower Heist stars Ben Stiller alongside a solid ensemble consisting of Matthew Broderick’s long awaited return to film, the ever stellar Eddie Murphy and Ben Affleck’s little bro Casey Affleck who gives a highly commendable performance. This team of actors all bring something different to the already cemented heist caper genre with notable classics being The Italian Job, Heat, Ocean’s 11, Point Break etc. Why does this genre never give up? I guess it maybe due to the fact that at some point in our lives we have all imagined what it would be like to rob those who deserve a bit of payback. Elements of the ‘big boss’ getting his comeuppance at the hands of loveable rogues brings out our sheer desire to be just a little bit naughty for once rather than playing by the rules. After all, upholding the law can get a little tiring when our buttons are being pushed.

Tower Heist is one of those movies where an element of uncertainty arises as to whether it will be too goofball, lacking in originality and most importantly a tiresome rehashing of the genre. Within the first five minutes, I was immediately hooked. Refreshing and down to earth, Ben Stiller’s character is easily likeable and a true hero to the hard working employees of a wealthy residential apartment building in New York City. And when wealthy resident Arthur Shaw gets taken in by the FBI for fraud, the realisation that the workers pensions have gone into Shaw’s crooked Ponzi scheme is a strong commitment to act by the vigilantes. This is greatly facilitated by the presence of Matthew Broderick’s former tenant and bankrupt businessman character along with Eddie Murphy’s character conveniently being an expert at robbery. In classic Murphy style, his presence is iconic and bad ass with a slight similarity to his Trading Places heyday.

There are many comedic highlights especially Slide’s (Eddie Murphy) tutorial in stealing $50 worth of merchandise from a shopping mall. Surprisingly each member of the team completes the task even if they do give off the impression of being useless criminals. And that is why Tower Heist is a small gem because the connotations invoked are not taking the ‘nice guy’ for granted and that the new age of the beta male is becoming more prominent. It challenges the misconception that if you come across a nice guy they don’t really have the guts to act. On the contrary, Tower Heist shows that these straight guy hard workers are even more psychotic because they have so much more to prove. The symbolism of Josh (Ben Stiller) and Shaw (Alan Alda) playing chess in the first act is very clever as it ignites the cat and mouse game between the two that continues throughout the movie, with Josh using ingenious methods to outwit the seemingly cocky Shaw.

On Monday 19^th March Tower Heist hits the shelves and with a beautifully executed cast this film is worth the money. Also be prepared for Tea Leoni’s screen stealing moment as an out of this world drunken FBI cop with no table manners, a role that brings out her comedic side ingeniously.